After completing my undergraduate degree at NCSU in 1965, I enrolled at Cornell University where I specialized in Ichthyology (the study of fishes) and minored in Evolutionary Biology. After earning a PhD in 1970, I took a faculty position in Orlando at the University of Central Florida, where I established a teaching and research program that spanned 35 years. While at UCF, I was Coordinator of the Graduate Program Office for five years and served as Chair of the Department of Biology for seven years. I taught courses at both the graduate and undergraduate level in the subject areas of ichthyology, fisheries, anatomy, and evolution, and I served as mentor and research supervisor for graduate students.

My research has spanned a range of topics in ichthyology and fisheries biology. I have authored scientific papers, presentations, books, and reports on subjects dealing with shark populations, stingray reproduction, minnow evolution and taxonomy, and the biology of livebearing fishes. Research has taken me to diverse locations such as coral reefs in Micronesia and the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico in a research submersible. I have described five previously unknown fish species and a new species of fish named in my honor (Notropis snelsoni). My research program was supported by grants and contracts from federal, state, and private agencies. During my career, I have had opportunity to work with many of the best marine and freshwater scientists in the world.

I retired from the University of Central Florida in May, 2005 and was awarded the status of Professor Emeritus. I moved from Orlando to Gainesville, where I met and married my wife Margaret Flagg. For four years I served as the Project Manager for the Florida Program for Shark Research in the Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida. In that role, I oversaw a diverse research and educational program dealing with the fishery, conservation, and life history of sharks in waters of the southeastern US.

Margaret and I live in Gainesville, Florida. We enjoy traveling, with emphasis on ecotourism. Margaret is retired from the position of Managing Editor of the scientific journal Conservation Biology. Her hobbies are reading, painting, and her dog(s). My hobbies are music, photography, and nature study - my current fascination is with dragonflies. I play bass with a blues band, pick guitar for my own entertainment, and do audio recording in my home studio.